Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[steubig]

Interesting project:



404.zero was formed back in 2016 as an outlet for the ambitious audiovisual projects of Russian artists Kristina Karpysheva and Alexander Letsius. Approaching light, sound and space with a singular vision, understanding them as essential parts of a monolithic whole, the duo create awe-inspiring works of grand scale which are defined by an esoteric aesthetic sensibility and a distinctly cinematic quality.

i liked those quite a bit.

 

[Bob_Ross]

@Bob_Ross
You previously mentioned that you did a mix session with the MOOD and said that you where never going to do one without it again.

I'm interested as to how you used it.

Aux Send from a Yamaha 01V mixer into custom one-off reamp box (built by Eric Small >30 years ago) into MOOD; output of MOOD into a spare fader. Assign anything/everything -- drums, guitars, vox, you name it...throw it against the wall and see what sticks -- to the MOOD. I tend to gravitate towards having the OBNE side set to Reverb, with Time at ~3:00 and Modify fully CCW. ...and then just as the lucious ambient goo starts to feel good, grab some of it in the Drolo loop. Leave all of that stuff at a very low semi-subliminal level. Maybe add some faux stereoization and/or autopanning via other DSP to the MOOD return just to complete the illusion.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Aux Send from a Yamaha 01V mixer into custom one-off reamp box (built by Eric Small >30 years ago) into MOOD; output of MOOD into a spare fader. Assign anything/everything -- drums, guitars, vox, you name it...throw it against the wall and see what sticks -- to the MOOD. I tend to gravitate towards having the OBNE side set to Reverb, with Time at ~3:00 and Modify fully CCW. ...and then just as the lucious ambient goo starts to feel good, grab some of it in the Drolo loop. Leave all of that stuff at a very low semi-subliminal level. Maybe add some faux stereoization and/or autopanning via other DSP to the MOOD return just to complete the illusion.

Dope!!!
I think this process needs a blooper though.

 

[steubig]

gonna share something for a few reasons:

1 live music returning

2 modular and other stuff: i’m always trying to figure out how get the ebass to make similar sounds

3 sonic exploration

4 thinking back to the movie “untitled” and how i said i have friends/colleagues who did stuff like they (lovingly) made fun of in that movie (and liked it because of that)

 

[Bob_Ross]

gonna share something ...[snip]...

I really enjoyed listening to that.
But watching the video -- or imagining I was in the audience watching that performance live -- made me realize something about "tabletop electronics" gigs:
I want to see more of what the performers are seeing. I want to see more closely how they're getting the sounds they're getting.I almost want them to do the old Rick Wakeman trick of having some mirrors above and behind them so the audience can see the performers' hands.

Is that just because I'm a musician, and am interested in the mechanics? Do non-musicians have a similar curiosity, or are they content being in the same space and watching a performer reach over to something on a desk and ...something happens ?

 

[steubig]

I really enjoyed listening to that.
But watching the video -- or imagining I was in the audience watching that performance live -- made me realize something about "tabletop electronics" gigs:
I want to see more of what the performers are seeing. I want to see more closely how they're getting the sounds they're getting.I almost want them to do the old Rick Wakeman trick of having some mirrors above and behind them so the audience can see the performers' hands.

Is that just because I'm a musician, and am interested in the mechanics? Do non-musicians have a similar curiosity, or are they content being in the same space and watching a performer reach over to something on a desk and ...something happens ?

i had the same impression.

the sonics are really cool. the visuals are boring af.

the camera angle is tough. i think an audience view of the woman closest to the camera and the guy in the middle probably yielded a better understanding of how they were doing things.

 

[HotelX]

Snippet of a jam I attended last night:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQE2zxmhbt5/?utm_medium=copy_link


Making music for the joy of it with like-minded explorers.

 

[monsterthompson]

25361657[/URL], member: 234523"]I really enjoyed listening to that.
But watching the video -- or imagining I was in the audience watching that performance live -- made me realize something about "tabletop electronics" gigs:
I want to see more of what the performers are seeing. I want to see more closely how they're getting the sounds they're getting.I almost want them to do the old Rick Wakeman trick of having some mirrors above and behind them so the audience can see the performers' hands.

Is that just because I'm a musician, and am interested in the mechanics? Do non-musicians have a similar curiosity, or are they content being in the same space and watching a performer reach over to something on a desk and ...something happens ?

You’ve hit on a thing I’ve thought about with DJ’s and electronic musicians vs. rock bands. One of the things that makes a “band” with guitar/bass/drums exciting is being able to see the movement that initiates the sound, in a way that allows the audience to connect the dots. When a guitarist does a big Pete style windmill and the audience immediately hears a chord coming out of the amp, the connection between movement and sound becomes realized. The guitar’s interface faces the audience, so the musician’s interaction with it is exposed to them.

Watching a vinyl DJ scratch on turntables has a similar, but smaller scale effect. Without a camera and projection, you can’t get the same effect in a “big” venue because of the visibility. You can still see the DJ physically moving between two records, and you can see the hand/arm movement when scratching. But the interface with the instrument faces the DJ.

The laptop or console musician has a screen or rack of gear with the interface aimed back at the musician, and it obscures what they are doing from viewers, making it harder for the audience to connect the dots between movement and sound. Layer in the fact that synth players are making “less natural” sounds (versus a guitar or piano with an acoustic analog, producing a familiar timber) and it creates an opaque barrier between movement and sound.

Part of the live show experience is connecting movement to sound. When that can’t be easily done, I think crowds start to disengage and/or dismiss the authenticity of the performance. It starts becoming more plausible that a backing track is being used and that someone just pushed play. It is a tad ironic when you think of the number of live rock acts using backing tracks, but I think most audiences more easily forgives the fact that a harmony vocal is coming out of the speakers when only one vocalist is at the mic.

 

[monsterthompson]

Got the modular rig running into the new fuzz pedal. It’s not amazing but it is useable. One of my new modules that drops the euro output to instrument or line level is handy, particularly since it has LEDs indicating the output level range, and an attenuation knob.

 

[steubig]

You’ve hit on a thing I’ve thought about with DJ’s and electronic musicians vs. rock bands. One of the things that makes a “band” with guitar/bass/drums exciting is being able to see the movement that initiates the sound, in a way that allows the audience to connect the dots. When a guitarist does a big Pete style windmill and the audience immediately hears a chord coming out of the amp, the connection between movement and sound becomes realized. The guitar’s interface faces the audience, so the musician’s interaction with it is exposed to them.

Watching a vinyl DJ scratch on turntables has a similar, but smaller scale effect. Without a camera and projection, you can’t get the same effect in a “big” venue because of the visibility. You can still see the DJ physically moving between two records, and you can see the hand/arm movement when scratching. But the interface with the instrument faces the DJ.

The laptop or console musician has a screen or rack of gear with the interface aimed back at the musician, and it obscures what they are doing from viewers, making it harder for the audience to connect the dots between movement and sound. Layer in the fact that synth players are making “less natural” sounds (versus a guitar or piano with an acoustic analog, producing a familiar timber) and it creates an opaque barrier between movement and sound.

Part of the live show experience is connecting movement to sound. When that can’t be easily done, I think crowds start to disengage and/or dismiss the authenticity of the performance. It starts becoming more plausible that a backing track is being used and that someone just pushed play. It is a tad ironic when you think of the number of live rock acts using backing tracks, but I think most audiences more easily forgives the fact that a harmony vocal is coming out of the speakers when only one vocalist is at the mic.

it's not just rock bands, imo, it's pretty much anything. there's something about the air moving from a hit drum or a blown horn that creates more physicality to the sound.

also, and this is probably open to debate, i think there is more complexity in the sound of an activated string, vibrating column of air or vibrating membrane than there is in an electronically produced sound. *for me*, this is why a deep mod matrix and mpe are big deals—you can get more complexity and variation in the sound.

i think the movement is why you see all the edm artists being super-demonstrative about "grooving" to the music.

good point about the prerecorded stuff.

 

[monsterthompson]

it's not just rock bands, imo, it's pretty much anything.

Agreed. I narrowed it to rock for the example because that’s what I’m familiar with, and I think the guitar illustrates the point clearly. It certainly applies to other instruments, from accordions to zithers.

 

[monsterthompson]

i think the movement is why you see all the edm artists being super-demonstrative about "grooving" to the music.

…and I agree with this observation. Even if the movement is dancing that looks like it’s loosely connected to the turning of knobs.

 

[monsterthompson]

Watching The Residents doing Duck Stab Alive. It is first exposure to the band that I can remember. Well. It is interesting. Not sure I'd spin this at the gym, but I'm not turning it off.

 

[steubig]

…and I agree with this observation. Even if the movement is dancing that looks like it’s loosely connected to the turning of knobs.

that is classic.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Watching The Residents doing Duck Stab Alive. It is first exposure to the band that I can remember. Well. It is interesting. Not sure I'd spin this at the gym, but I'm not turning it off.

All sounds from that album are from stuff bought at toy r us.
I first heard that album in 1999. It was a total mind Faawk
For real.

 

[monsterthompson]

All sounds from that album are from stuff bought at toy r us.
I first heard that album in 1999. It was a total mind Faawk
For real.

This is a recent performance. I’m assuming the songs might be the same but the instruments are guitars, drums, and keys/synths. It’s kinda funny because the stage lighting is all ring lights and there are characters on stage running around taking phone photos of them throughout the performance. It’s clearly a jab at modern influencer culture.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

This is a recent performance. I’m assuming the songs might be the same but the instruments are guitars, drums, and keys/synths. It’s kinda funny because the stage lighting is all ring lights and there are characters on stage running around taking phone photos of them throughout the performance. It’s clearly a jab at modern influencer culture.

Link to live set?
Are they still only 3 members or have they added some personnel for live sets?

 

[monsterthompson]

Link to live set?
Are they still only 3 members or have they added some personnel for live sets?

Live set is behind a streaming service paywall. I googled a little but couldn’t find it elsewhere for free.

You can sign up for a monthly subscription and get a 7 day “free trial” window. The monthly cost isn’t much and there’s a bunch of other good music content.
Night Flight 40th Anniversary - The Residents Peformance

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

RE; live shows, visuals, DJ vs musicians….etc…..

I’ll sum up my opinion with a simple answer.

If I could chose any show to go to, anytime with a time machine and a youth potion…….Miles, Trane, Bach, Debussy, Albert Ayler, Roland Kirk, James Brown, Sly Stone, P-Funk, Grandmaster Flash…..

It would be me at about 18yo at a Bad Brains show at there peak.
I would be in the pit the entire hour long set. It becomes spiritual.

No show can beat the pure energy and soul power of a show like that.

IME, IMO, YMMV…….

 

[emjazz]

RE; live shows, visuals, DJ vs musicians….etc…..

I’ll sum up my opinion with a simple answer.

If I could chose any show to go to, anytime with a time machine and a youth potion…….Miles, Trane, Bach, Debussy, Albert Ayler, Roland Kirk, James Brown, Sly Stone, P-Funk, Grandmaster Flash…..

It would be me at about 18yo at a Bad Brains show at there peak.
I would be in the pit the entire hour long set. It becomes spiritual.

No show can beat the pure energy and soul power of a show like that.

IME, IMO, YMMV…….

I would go back and sit right in front of Charlie Haden at a small club. That's what I would want to do.

I think the best live experience I've ever had was going with a friend to see/hear the Bulgarian Women's Choir. I had no idea what I was in for. It was in a giant old church. It was transcendent.